Windscreen prices

Apples2

Not sure if this belongs in the Vent board about rip offs, the Praise board about good service or Motoring board for general info.

Had a somewhat unfortunate incident whereby I managed to crack the windscreen on a colleagues car, an old Pug 306.

Micky taking all round I had to pay for a replacement out of common decency.

I rang Autoglass to see if they could come out, "Not for 48hrs" comes the reply.
I asked how much it would be, no tints, no sunshade strip, just a plain screen.
"As a new customer Sir you receive a Brucie Knockdown Magical Bonus knock down price, that will be just £540 fitted"

Aghast but already commited I asked if I could drive in and get it replaced, "Sorry Sir, 48hrs is the next available slot".

I carried on ringing around until I came to
http://www.bristolwindscreens.co.uk/

"We can be with you this afternoon Sir"
Great I said, How much fitted.

"That will be £166 fully fitted, lifetime gurantee (as long as I own it)"



I find the price difference quite shocking, it isn't just the whiplash ambulance chasers driving up our Insurance Premiums, it's these clowns at Autoglass and similar.

As a preferred Insurance supplier for glass, they seem to be completely taking the preverbial out of Insurance companies which we all end up paying for in the long run.

Thumbs up Brizzle Windscreens :dance:
Thumbs down Autoglass Boooooooooooooo!

pinkteapot

If you have fully comp insurance, a new windscreen is £50-75 and doesn't affect your no claims bonus....

Apples2

Wasn't my car though. Of course we could have gone through her Insurance but why should she have been so inconvenienced?

I know it doesn't afect No Claims but I suspect it affects next years policy price in some way.

NCD is just that, a Discount. The Policy can still ramp up following a claim, just means you still get the same % knocked off.

chunkychocky

When I made a windscreen claim it did not seem to impact on the quote I had for the following year and is not classed as a claim so when you go to other companies they don't know about it.

Limey

Had the same issues with a windscreen for an import car (bronze tint) big companies wanted huge amount of money 'because it was an import' some even tried to tell me the shape was different to UK spec.:rotfl:

Eventually spoke to a very nice local fitter who said 'oh, there's no difference in price between import and uk spec. £140 fitted.'

pinkteapot

Sorry, I wasn't having a dig. I can understand you wanting to get it fixed for her as it wasn't your car. More a general reminder for other people reading.

It's no hassle going through the insurance - I called, got called back later that day to make an appointment, the windscreen guy came to our home the next day.

The only slight hassle was that Admiral are tight and don't use Autoglass et al. The guy they sent didn't have one of those roll-out awnings on his van so, you guessed it, he can't replace a windscreen in the rain. He couldn't do the job when he first arrived, but came back later in the day to do it.

Will see what next year's renewal price brings, but I always manage to haggle it down anyway (or defect if they refuse) so I'm not overly concerned.

colino

Why would she have been inconvenienced? You would have paid her the £50-75 windscreen excess up front in cash and she could have taken it along, or waited for the available slot for a new windscreen to be installed. No extra time lost and I'm not aware of any insurance company that increases premiums after a glass claim.
Beware of cheap windscreens, there are some distinctly ropey ones out there that carry all of the appropriate EU marks but distort like crazy when their in.

Hintza

I think you will find most independents are much better and most actually have contracts with the insurers too.

Last time I used one I had to fill the chip on a rental car and when I arrived the chap was in a tiz because he had to deliver a screen 15 miles away asap. As it was on the way home and the boys in the van who were waiting for it had the kit too I said I would deliver it for him and get the chip done at the same time. Only charged me a tenner, I was well chuffed.

Apples2

colino wrote: »

Why would she have been inconvenienced? You would have paid her the £50-75 windscreen excess up front in cash and she could have taken it along, or waited for the available slot for a new windscreen to be installed. No extra time lost .

Apart form being without a car for 48hrs you mean? That was the next slot from the "Insurance Approved Suppliers"

The crack went right through the centre, the car couldn't be driven. The first pothole could have spelt disaster.

I'm not trying to come at this from a bargain point of view, I was happy to cover the costs completely, even if it had been the £540.
My focus os on the enormous difference between autoglass and a local fitter.

I agree about the Insurance comments, I have no idea if it does or doesn't as a fact, we will never know as we would never know what the quote would have been had the claim not been made.

I rarely stay with the same company for more than a single year, In many years of driving, I have never failed to get a lower price than my "Auto Renewal"

fivetide

pinkteapot wrote: »

If you have fully comp insurance, a new windscreen is £50-75 and doesn't affect your no claims bonus....

I think Apples' point was that there was nearly £400 difference between an insurance approved place and an independent and that Autoglass might be dipping their wick a bit too much and helping push up all our premiums.

I remember going to a place once and being asked if it was insurance or not. Cost was £150 cash. The chap actually said it would have been double if it had gone through as an insurance claim. Total scam.

5t.

mikey72

Going through the insurer does count as a claim, that must be declared for normally 5 years, but doesn't normally affect your ncd. (There are a couple of exceptions to this, Swiftcover don't give you the year extra if you make a claim, but don't reduce it either). If you make another claim, the culminative affect can load your premium.

A lot of insurers will only pay for their approved supplier, if you use another one, they can cap the price they will pay to an insulting amount that won't cover the full cost.

(The best price I was quoted recently was £85 for a 106 screen, which was £10 more than my excess)